Tony lay there, his eyes wide beneath the faceplate.
He had no idea what had happened.
His armor was still malfunctioning, his body was still unable to move, and his view was still confined by that transparent, functionless glass.
But he could see the changes in the Skrulls. Their bodies no longer moved, and their eyes no longer turned.
Their breathing... he could no longer hear it.
A voice came through the communicator.
It was not JARVIS, not Steve, and not Natasha.
It was a woman's voice, young and calm, carrying a strange tone like a student answering a teacher's question in class.
"Tony Stark, your armor has been restored. You can stand up now."
Tony froze for a moment.
Then he felt the nanoparticles in his armor begin to flow.
Not slowly or tentatively, but smoothly and normally, as if nothing had ever gone wrong.
The thrusters came back online, the weapons systems activated, the sensors rebooted, and the communications system connected.
Every system regained functionality at once. All the warning lights on the display went out, replaced by normal green indicators.
He sprang to his feet. The Palm Cannons lit up, and every sensor in his faceplate ran at full power as it scanned everything around him.
Twelve Skrulls stood around them, perfectly still, like twelve frozen ice sculptures.
A figure walked in from outside the factory.
No, not one figure. Two people.
Walking in front was a girl who looked fifteen or sixteen, with long light-blue hair, golden eyes, bare feet, and a white dress.
She held a small silver-white device in her hand, and Tony recognized it.
It was the EMP generator the Skrull had used earlier to paralyze his armor.
But now, the indicator light on the device was off, and the energy core within